Less than half of all Americans can name all three branches of government.

Good readers make good citizens. Regular readers are more than twice as likely as non-readers to volunteer or do charity work.

Only 24% of college graduates and 27% of all Americans know the First Amendment prohibits establishing an official religion for the United States.

Only 55% of all Americans know that Congress shares authority over U.S. foreign policy with the President. Almost a quarter incorrectly believe Congress shares this power with the United Nations.

Although Congress has voted twice in the last eight years to approve foreign wars, only 53% of all Americans know that the power to declare war belongs to Congress. Almost 40% incorrectly believe it belongs to the President.

Forty-six percent of Americans used the Internet to get news about the 2008 election, share their views, and mobilize others.

Only 47% of high school seniors have mastered a minimum level of U.S. history and civics.

In a survey that asked 12 questions on well-publicized current events, 18- to 29-year-olds had an average of only 5.5 correct. Nearly half could not name the Speaker of the House or the president of Russia, and 60% did not know how many American troops have been killed in Iraq.